I love mascara more than liners/kajal/shadows or any other eye make-ups. Here is my current stash

• Almay One Coat Dial Up Mascara
• Revlon Double Twist water proof mascara
• Jane Maxlash water proof mascara
• Lakme Eyeconic mascara 
• Avon Gel Eye liner
• Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner
• L'oreal Paris Line Intensifique liquid Eyeliner
• Prestige Eyeliner Pen (on white)
• NYX jumbo eye pencil (on Cottage cheese0 
• Enthrice Pen Eyeliner
• Revlon Colorstay Eyeliner
• Prestige Liquid Eyeliner (On Black, silver/gray and golder)

Let me know if anyone wants me to do a review any of them :)

quick tips girls: those of you sometimes do your manicure and pedicure at home, you can use hand washes instead of shampoo or any commercial feet soaking products in the warm water. They are mild enough for your hands, so will not affect your feet. They have superior cleansing ability which will cut down your exfoliation time and they are formulated with anti-septic agents which will ensure healthier skin and nails :)

I try to do them atleast once a week (at-home DIY kinds) and atelast once a month from a saloon. Sometimes when I'm feeling lazy I even skip the whole exfoliation process, the handwash alone has enough cleansing ability to clean the skin, take care of the dead cell and make it soft. Not to mention, the whole warm soaking expereince really refreshing.

Hope this helps 

Ponds Age Miracle Dual Eye Therapy UV Under-eye Cream is my current most fav. under-eye cream. Its about time I review it :)  It costs less than 800tk (around $10) and worth every penny.

It was two separate cream in one jar, hence the name duel action. One of the them is supposedly for the eye lids and one of them for the under-eye area. They have different color and functions...anyway more on that later.

So this is the cream

I am a software/web developer, which means, I spend way too much time infront of a computer. I also have really odd working hours and tend to stay up late all the time. when I say late I dont mean 2 am, I mean 5 or 6 am.....this is why i have under-eye circles and I am always in a quest to find under-eye creams that works.

After experimenting with several brands, I finally settled for these fours.

They are:
Neutrogena Fine Fairness Eye Cream
Garnier Anti Dark Cirle Eye roll-on
Healthy Shop Anti Wrinlke Under Eye Gel
And Ponds Age Mircale Under Eye Cream

I love all of them for different purposes. For example, Garnier one is really tinted so I can skip concealers, Healthy Shop one is a gel and can do wonder to take off the puffiness. But if I have to pick one from these four, it would be the Ponds one hands down.

I will do a individual review of all of these with pictures, pros and cons later :)

I'm 99.99% certain that Mr. A.J. Perdomo (how awesome is he? <3) didn't have make-up on his mind when he wrote these lines but I find it oddly applicable. :D

Just received from  a facebook page today...my first ever NYX Jumbo pencil!

Have to say i'm pleasantly surprised by the texture, i was expecting something like a typical-eye-pencil-stick(chalky) but it is smooth as cream..not very glittery or shiny but not matte either..would be perfect for tear-duct lining and occasional shadow work..maybe i'll post a  picture next time i do my eyes :)

This review was requested. I was going out anyway...so I used this E.L.F. Mechanical Eyelash Curler and took some picture along the way. This eye lash curler was fairly cheap, only 1 dollar in E.L.F stores and since I got it from an Online Facebook Shop, it was only 250tk with all the added charges.

E.L.F. Mechanical Eyelash Curler came in a nice see through plastic box. Not only will it help with the storage issue (it is really had to fit an eye liner curler in any sort of make up organizer, such an odd shape) it will also help to prevent make up dusts, dirts etc to affect the curler.

This review was requested. I have heard a lot about TRESemme Shampoo and Conditioners in Make Up Alley so when I saw the conditioner on a local shop, Almas the other day, I just had to get it. Then I was so impressed by the conditioner I went ahead and got the shampoo as well. 

 

So today I tried both of them. They come in a very big container ( 600 ml) so I can say they are going to last a while. For less than 600 tk( around$7) I’ll say they are very reasonable. They also comes in plump bottle, my favorite kind, because you can always control how much you want and taking the product out are really less of hassle. (ever tried to open conditioner bottle with already slipper hands?)

Here is a "what's on your bag post"
I dont like big bags...now that I am no longer a student I dont need to use one too. My most go-to hand bag is this chocolate color Lorenzo bag which i got from Khazana a few months ago...have been using it all the time!

It is pretty small like 16 by 10 inches maybe...but you will surprised at the amount of stuff i can fit in it

See sunglassh, lipgloss, comb, money/card bag,  compact, hair stick, wet tissue, gums, hair clip, pen drive, sweeteners, keys, pen, ear phones, cell phone and a kindle.

So what's on your bag?

 Recived E.L.F haul from an online facebook shop today :)

1. E.L.F foundation brush.
2. E.L.F shine eraser sheets
3. E.L.F eye lash
4. E.L.F brightening eye color
5. E.L.F seductive lipstick
6. E.L.F pressed powder on honey
7. E.L.F eyelash curler
8. E.L.F all over cover stick -apricots
reviews coming soon....

A while ago, I blogged about my favorite face masks here

I love face masks, they are very refreshing and relaxing and do seem to make a difference. These are mostly commercially manufactured but you can always use you DIY Home Made alternatives as well. They are way cheaper then any commercially available options. You are also using 100% natural edible ingredients so no risk of any kind of side-affects caused by chemicals.

Here is an easy way to make a fruit juice face mask in real easy steps. All you need if some kind of fruit juice and sheet masks.

So today I went to buy some candy from a local shop and saw this Almay One Coat Dial Up Mascara. Now, I have had used two compacts by Almay and they were awesome so I have somewhat respect for this brand. Also the mascara look kind of mechanical and the geek inside me totally digged it. Plus I have a thing for mascara, I have protruding hooded eye so I rarely ever wear eye make up (liner or shadow) but I wear mascara. A lot. So all in all, it was justified.

Anyway it looked like a nail polish. At one point I thought it also had a eye lash primer but here were no indication at the label. It just said to move the dial to one of the three levels to get different kind of coverage.

So today I went out to have coffee with my sis and was browsing some adjacent grocery shop and saw this Parachute Gold Coconut Hair Cream. Now you know me, I am obsessed with hair care products. I had no idea what a hair cream was as I never used one, so decided to test one. The price, tk 250 ($7-8) helped too. It is a product of Parachute Arabia is which again an unfamiliar territory but I do know the Parachute Brand. I mean I never used their oils because I always use edible or organic ones but I am familiar with their reputation. You can visit the Marico website to know more about the product line and everything.
Anyway  then came back home and did a web search as usual but couldn't fine one single review, so decided to do one myself!!! 

So this is an anti-dandruff hair cream. I don’t really suffer from dandruff or flakiness ever since I have been using Apple cider vinegar but it is winter and my scalp is prone to more problems during this time so it won’t hurt.

This review is requested by Beauty Blogger. Please do check her blog out she has been an inspiration to a newbie like me :)

Coastal Scents Eclipse Palette is my first and only product from Coastal Scents. For Now.  So I had no idea what to expect. I have read some reviews in Make Up Alley and other blogs and almost every had mixed opinions about the product. And after using it for 2-3 times, so do I.

Let me start with the basic first. Coastal Scents Eclipse Palette was fairly cheap. I got it from a 3^rd party ( A Facebook Page) so mine had extra import/tax and service charges and the whole thing added to 2300tk (a little less than $30) but it has been retailing for less than $15. So that is, less than $15 for 15 shades of concealer.  So before I judge the quality and coverage, I had to keep that in mind. It may not compete with my previous concealer palette (Hard Candy’s nobody’s perfect, which lasted a long but the date got expired so I threw it away, now kind of wishing I still had it, at least I could have shown the comparison between these two) but for that price, its doing a damn good job. Specially if you compare it with some concealer they are selling here in Bangladesh (the other day guys from Almas showed me some of Golden Rose!)

So anyway, the palette comes in a slim black case. Nothing fancy. No mirror or brush. Of course, do you ever use the brush or mirrors that come with these cases? I never really did lol. There are quite a lot of concealer for each shade, the circle are approximate of 1 inch diameter. Sorry cant say exactly how much concealer that is per shade, maybe .05 to .08 oz, can someone help me here?

I was browsing through Facebook and had the idea for this post.

Undertone is one of the most important make-up secrets.  They can primarily be categorized as cool, warm and neutral.

• Cool undertone: (they are mostly pinkish/ redish or blueish) 
• Warm undertone: (they are yellowish or different shade of golden 
• Medium or Neutral undertone: they are a mix between cool and warm undertones ( it is kind of hard to explain but you will know it when you see on) for example, olive color!

(Image collected from net)

From the color of your concealer to the color of your lipstick, under tones can make or break it. Undertones are the reasons some foundation matches your skin perfectly while some don’t. You need to know your undertone to conceal your under eye perfectly. To cover the veins of your face and give you that flawless finish, you need a skin corrector as well as concealer, and again the skin corrector will depend on your undertone.

here are the reasons i shouldn't be buying any more make up

running out of space...needed to do some major organizing. so went to this cute little craft-shop called jhi jhi poka selling cute little organizers ( i already have a lot of their stuff so does my sister) and got myself a matching organizer.

and later i somehow ended up at almas and got myself another conditioner!!! but i am not sorry. This is TRESemme - Smooth and Silky Vitamin H and Silk Proteins Conditioner, which was the only i was looking for the other day when i bought the carring one. Anyway I usee too much conditioner as it is and they have long shell life so everything's cool.

Just look at these smashing reviews from Make Up Alley, and now tell me how could I not get one?

I also recived this from an online shop, body shop Dreams Unlimited Body Butter but this is my first and probably last body butter of this winter so totally justified :)

So how many times have you lovelies have been asked to do a protein treatment when you went to saloon to get your hair done or trimmed?

See I have fairly healthy hair (on of the upsides of no heat or processing) so they are like, "you have really nice hair you should do a protein treatment to keep it healthy". And then there were some other girl who had highlights on her hair so the saloon was like, "your hair might be damaged from color so you should do protein treatment" etc. Now don’t get me wrong I have nothing against protein treatments per-say, but I just hate the  idea of how it is being used as a universal remedy of all-things-hair.

That is so not the case.

Protein can repair your hair. It can also damage your hair. So can moisture. Ever heard the phrase too much of anything is bad? Exactly. Now before I go into any details, lets get a few things straight. 

1. Hair treatments can be either a moisturizing treatment or a protein treatment.
2. Your hair can need protein, or moisturizer or both or none (if you have really really healthy hair) 
3. There is such thing called over moisturizing or too much protein and they will most certainly damage your hair. Here you wanted to do your hair some good and would end up making it only worse. 

So lets see what the damages are. If you have a fairly moisturized hair and still keep on moisturizing, it will feel lump and lifeless. It will stretch to infinity every time you comb or brush and in long turn will be prone to breakage.

If your hair already has enough protein and you keep getting those protein treatment, it will dry your hair out. It will become brittle and totally loose the healthy texture. You will experience frequent split ends on regular basis.

So you should always know if your hair needs moisture or protein and then take care of it accordingly. But, how would you know? Really simple. It is called a wet stretch test.

okay quick i am kind of busy with work so no time to explain which i suppose is a good thing becasuse honestly i cant justify buying any of these except for the Neutrogena Ultra sheer sunscreen (which is why i went to Almas on the first place...)

and certainly not another pair of shoes.

Remember when i started this blog becasue i needed an intervention? well its not working
seriously i will not buy anything i will not buy anything i will not buy anything for a whole week

Yet another idea I picked up from Make Up Alley! (Have I ever told you guys how awesome this website is?). Read about MUA’s take on Apple Cider Vinegar here.

Importance of using a toner: 

So I have oily skin and toner is a must. Even people with other skin types should also incorporate a toner in their daily skin care regime as well. Here is why.

1. Oily skin produces too much oil as it is. When you wash your face, it changes the ph balance of your skin thus leads to even more oil. The more you wash, the more oil it will produce. Sounds counter-productive, I know, but this is how it is. This is why toner is so important. It restores the ph balance of your skin, and the oil production will be back to normal again. It will be extremely helpful for people with oily skin who suffers from regular breakouts, acne, pimples etc.
2. Same principle applies for people with other skin types. Yes your skin may not get oily due to the change of ph balance but the ph balance changes nevertheless. And that can be dangerous for your skin. The more you age, the more hard it gets for your skin to restore the ph balance regularly. So if you are in your early 30s, start using a toner already! (link ) 
3. Disturbed ph level is one of the main reasons for fine lines and wrinkles. Use toner to avoid them and ensure healthier looking skin. 
4. When you are using a face wash/gel/cleansing milk/ soap to wash your face, it will leave a small amount of residue on your face. A toner will take care of these residues. So whatever your skin type is, if you are experiencing breakout, rash, redness after you wash your skin, try a toner. 
5. Toners play an important role in cell turnover process. 
6. It will help with the application of other product. Applying moisturizer or anything else after toner is way easier and will most definitely ensure better absorption. (link)

So now that you know the importance of using a toner, start using one. You can opt for any commercially produced toner. You can also make your own homemade do-it-yourself facial toner using apple cider vinegar.

I have already posted this in longhaircommunity, mostly due to the fact that it was them who convinced me to give it a try…First of all let me just start by saying, this is an 100% true story. I do not produce castor oil. I do not sell castor oil. I am in no way affiliated with castor oil….but I am baffled, telling ya’ll, I am baffled by castor oil. You all will be too, just wait. And use it.

I had been reading raves about castor oil since, forever. It has vitamin E (Link). It has other skin and hair benefits. (Link). It can help with dandruff (Link). It can repair damage (Link).  It can make hair grow at balding spots (Link). The good people in MakeUPAlley are even putting in on face and eyelashes (as well as here). (Link) It is known to make your hair grow faster (link)…if you are a regular at any hair care based community you know that they are always running some challenges. Go natural for 5 weeks, wear your hair down for 6 weeks, use honey for 8 weeks, use castor oil for 11 weeks. The last one was the challenge that I took, I mean I was skeptical about its having supposedly “growth super-power” but it’s a chemical free vegetable oil right so what is the worst thing could it do?

I have never been so wrong! In a good way! 

Look at my nails. Darn edges!

But I ran out of nail polish removers...so thought would make a quick stop to Orchard Point, a nearby mall, to pick one up.
This is what I ended up buying. Damn you, window shopping!

I needed an protein based conditioner, I mostly own moisturizing conditioners (I have low porosity hair so protein is not something my hair often needs), so yes Caring's Egg Protein Conditioner ( about tk550/ $8) was justified. I love Labellos, I got one a week ago but gave it to Ammu so needed one more. Face mask application brush, hair comb, eye brow pencil and ofcourse the nail polish removers were really cheap and doesn't count. However, I really DID NOT need yet another compact powder, but i just went ahead and got myself a L`oreal Infalliable(about tk600/$9) anyway!
The jwelleries were okay...i dont really buy them often. I have metal allergy,... i cant wear anything except gold for longer than 2-3 hour period without getting weird rash. But I really liked these. Specially this earrings.

Cost me about tk 380/ $5, nice, yes?
But wait...this isn't what the day was about it. So, Guess what? Its shoes. Two pair of amazing shoes. Just couldn't pass them on...

Aren't they pretty? Together they took about (tk1200/ $16)...now, wasn't that a great bargain? Justified? Hell Yeah :D

So, winter is coming…okay, I sound like Game of Throne. I miss Game of Throne.

Anyway so I decided I’d be doing a series of tips on how to take care of your skin/hair etc during this “kind of difficult” season. Let’s start with the very basic. Moisturizers.

Moisturizers for you:

Of course everyone uses moisturizers. Everyone should. Specially during the winter season. Now if you have extremely oily skin like mine, you may get away with no body moisturizing during summer ( I never need one) but for winter and all that follows, you will need to use a decent moisturizer.  If you have normal to dry skin, opt for oil based moisturizers. There are oil based lotions or body oils even body butter if you are looking for that level of protection. If you have oily skin, however, you can use a water based product if you want, though I’ll suggest you to give oil based products a try anyway, your skin might love them during winter.

Tip: Moisturize the right way:

But no, that was not my tip. My tip is (and it’s really a general knowledge but you will surprised to know how many people don’t really follow), always keep your favorite moisturize in your shower. In that way you can put some when your skin is still damp. Not dripping wet. Damp. Because by the time you step out of your shower and reach your dresser it will be too late.

Today I will write about another trick I picked up from MakeUp Alley, which deals with oily skin. I have extremely oily skin. I use the best oily skin care products (which include oil control face washes/ toners/moisturizers/primers/foundations/powders etc) possible but with all that, my skin gets oily within 1-2 hours of applications. Don’t even get me started on make up. No matter what I use I always end up looking all greasy and cake-y even with continuous blotting every hour. I spent too much money on oil control products thinking this next one will be the solution to all my problems, only to get my heart-broken. (Maybe someday I will do a inventory of all the products I have tried for the sake of oil control and failed miserably…)

So one fine day, I was just browsing about oily skin when I came across a MUA discussion on Milk of Magnesium. Yes, I am serious. Yes, it is a laxative. But it is also the answer to all my problems. And millions of other oily skinned people, apparently!

You think I am weird? Check this MUA reviews of Milk OF Magnesium out. See, I am not weird. You are weird. LOL!

I have already posted a blog entry about my morning and afternoon skin care, which has slightly changed, due to the incorporation of this glorious glorious, lets call it a “product”, shall we? So anyway, this is what I do to a guarantee an oil-free face for the whole day (while previously, with all the products in the world, I could only do like 3-4 hours. max)

So I was writing an article about oil control and wanted to mention all the oily skin friendly face washes I have been using lately and discovered it was again too much information. So I figured why not make a separate post out of it?

These face washes are extremely easy is to come by here in Dhaka and are also quite affordable.

Clean and Clear Deep Action Oil Control Face Wash Review: 

This is my most fav go-to face wash to-date. Of all the face washes I have ever tried including the ones mentioned here, this one gives me the best protection against oil. Ofcourse, 8 hours is exaggerated, it can merely give me an hour or two of oil-free freedom if used alone, but still way better than any other face wash I have ever tried. It is easier to foam up, washes all the oil and grease from my face and washes off quickly with water (as opposed to some other slippery face washes that takes ages to wash off). It is also really cheap, around tk 200-300 I guess. Only one issue with this face wash is, it can not be used as a make-up remover as it does not provide that level of powerful cleaning. It is a good thing actually, seeing how I use this face wash on a fairly regular basis, if it were that strong it could have seriously ruined my skin!

My Rating: 9/10

So today I went to Moyuri (a convenient store very close to my place) and saw this sweetie in a corner. 
Revlon Double Twist Blackest black (721) Mascara. For only tk 400! (around $6)
Moyuri, of all the places. So ofcourse i just had to get it. Even though I have too many mascaras as it is.Cross that, a girl can never have too many mascaras...
Maybe I will do a review later.

 

Today I will share a neat trick that changed my life. Literally! It changed my hair, the time I used to spend (waste?) “taking care” (read processing/over processing/frying/putting who-knows-what-chemicals) on my hair. Last but not the least, it saved me tons of $$$ I had endlessly spend (again, wasted) fretting over my hair thinking it will do the magic. Nothing really did, atleast produced any permanent results that I can tell. That is, until I found this tip in Long Hair Care/ Long Hair Community/Naturally Curly websites. If you don’t know about these sites, I suggest you check them out, they are one of the best websites for hair out there…

First, a few words on my hair. After years of chemical processing ( rebonding/color/hightlights you name it) and regular heat and stuff, I finally came to my senses (again, my foremost gratitude to the websites mentioned above) and adopted a more natural process. I have oily 2b wavy hair with low porosity. (I will do some posts later on how to detect your hair type and porosity condition, very important stuff, I tell you, if you are trying to take care of your hair). Since I have been fairly natural for last two years or so (no chemical processing or regular heat only some carefully executed blow outs once/twice every month), my hair is in pretty good condition. But it’s still frizzy, dry on the ends and somewhat unmanageable specially immediately after shampoo no matter what. I do my fair share of hair treatments. Always follow shampoo with conditioner, do a deep conditioning treatment and a hot oil treatment once every week, while they do help, nothing can compare to mixing conditioner with honey!

Full list here -> http://pinterest.com/nowheregirl02/pop-punk-albums-you-should-check-out-before-you-di/

words cant explain how I love these albums/bands...but maybe my last.fm can give you some idea!

So today I got these from a facebook group called dreams Accessories

some foamy bumpits seems far better than the plastic one. (tk450/ $8+)

Fräulein 3°8 12 brush set (tk 2200/$29+)

Ofcourse i ordered a few other things...cant wait

So I purchased these two from a facebook group and a lot more to go...

Eclipse: Coastal Scents Concealer Palette (tk 2300/ around $30)
MUA Heaven & Earth  Eye Palette (tk 500/ around$6)
Cant wait to try them on...specially the contourers shades...its so hard to come by contourers here all i get is bronzers. they shine!!!!...so not the point...

<<<<<<THIS IS AN OLD FORMULA. PLEASE READ MY UPDATED VERSION OF DIY VIT C SERUM CLICK HERE >>>>>
 
Intro...

I have extremely oily skin, which means I could get away with without using any moisturizer most of the times. Even now, some of my most fav. make-up pros (including  GOSS Make Up Artist , one of my most fav make-up gurus, if you don’t know him I suggest you check his videos out now, you will thank me later) say people with oily skin does not need any moisturizer…that being said, I like the feeling/smell/texture of a moisturizer, I like putting it on my face and I like the things it does to my skin, specially during the winter. So I have been using some lately…

Anyway you may ask why am I babbling about moisturizer if I was going to make a serum? It’s because to know what facial serum does, you need to know the basic. What is a moisturizer? What is a serum? What is the difference?

Why Serum?

Simply, moisturizer is a barrier between skin and the environment; it can trap the moisture in your skin which will keep it from getting dry hence getting wrinkles and ensuring overall healthy skin. However our skin has different layers and the molecules of a moisturizer can only penetrates the outermost layer, which many specialists refers to as superficial layer, because eventually the skin cells shed and this layer becomes extinct. So if you want to really do something to your skin, you will need to penetrate deeper.

Enter second layer. I knew the name of all these layers but I forgot…anyway here comes the serum. The molecules of a serum are smaller than moisturizer therefore can penetrate deeper into skin (which moisturizer can’t, remember?) therefore if you are trying to improve your skin you should concentrate on a serum as well as a moisturizer.

Now I don’t want to get into any details but if you are interested check this link which discusses skin serum & moisturizer and their correlations.

I love face masks I try to put one at least twice a week. Yes, that much.

I mostly prefer home made AHA masks. Can I just say that of all the masks I’ve tried, homemade/ commercial or professional spa treatments, AHA based masks have the best results. Just google AHA face masks and you’ll see…its just some light skin-friendly natural acid (Alpha Hydrochloric Acid) that can be found in fruits and common kitchen ingredients which can dissolve the glue that hold our outmost skin layer thus cleans and exfoliates. In long run, it does wonders with pores, marks, moisturizing and skin lightening aspects. I mostly use some combinations of AHA sources (you can go to this link : http://voices.yahoo.com/homemade-al... to know more) for example, lemon +honey + sugar or papaya+ evaporated milk+ sugar or curd+ cocoa if I’m feeling really indulgent…you get the idea. It’s really easy, cheap, always available, all natural and safest of all with no chemicals or preservatives. And it works best with oily skin (no danger of skin drying out because of the acids) which I have so it’s always a plus. I also believe regular applications of AHA masks helped to control my oil to a great extent. Also being all natural food sources, they contain some sort of vitamins, enzymes and anti-oxidants which is really great for your skin.

That being said, I do keep some commercially produced face masks when I’m feeling lazy to throw in some AHA ingredients together. Sometimes, I need a peel-off masks (which you can also make in home by the way, just with some fruit juice and gelatin, being a jello-junkie I always have them both and one of these days I’m going to try making it but like I said I’m just super lazy) . So here’s my Shills blue mask peel off mask. I used to use several Everyouth masks but this one is so much better. Not available locally though I need to order it from ebay so that’s a drag.